STM 42, Bennett County 13

Taton Bolton rushed for three touchdowns Friday night as St. Thomas More hammered Bennett County 42-13. (Photo Jake Nordbye/IDS)

RAPID CITY, SD—STM running back Taton Bolton rushed for 92 yards and three touchdowns, quarterback Jake Sullivan ran for one score and threw for another, and the Cavs racked up 300 total yards in a beat down of a Bennett County team that was abandoned by its head coach and starting QB on Thursday.

All four of the Cavs touchdown drives in the first half took less than four minutes and they led 21-0 at the end of the first quarter.

It was always going to be an uphill battle for Bennett County against the fourth-ranked Cavs, but Friday night they looked like a team without a leader. In actuality, they were without two. Jeff Krolikowski quit as the head coach on Thursday and his son Kray followed him in an apparent exodus for Winner.

The result was Bennett County only managed two first downs in the opening half (one from a penalty) and the Warriors only score came after they blocked an STM punt and recovered on the Cavs 20-yard line. Two plays later, Brad Hahn took a reverse from 19 yards out, cutting the STM lead to 21-7.

The Cavs immediately bounced back by driving 55 yards in five plays. Bolton capped a scoring drive that took less than two minutes with a touchdown run from two yards out, his second of the half. A 38-yard pass from Sullivan to KJ Rech set up the score.

(Photos Jake Nordbye/IDS)

Sullivan led a balanced attack with 141 yards passing and 52 yards rushing as STM finished with 308 total yards for the night. On the opening drive, Sullivan scrambled for 27 yards taking the ball inside the Warriors 20. Three plays later, he ran one in from seven yards out.

After Bolton’s first touchdown run on the second drive, a Bennett County fumble gave STM the ball on the 35-yard line. Four plays later, Sullivan found a wide-open Jeremy Henderson in the end zone for a 12-yard TD strike.

Bolton added his third touchdown with 9:34 left to play in the third quarter, putting STM up 35-7.

St. Thomas More improved to 5-1 on the season and will host Lead-Deadwood next Friday night.

O’Gorman 45, Central 14

Second-ranked Sioux Falls O’Gorman scored on its first five possessions of the game and Rapid City Central—playing without tailback Taylor Houchin because of a concussion—managed only one first down in the opening half.

O’Gorman racked up 445 total yards of offense (382 on the ground) and Flynn Donelan had 148 yards and two scores in the first half. Hermanson had 58 yards on three carries in the opening 24 minutes and also had two touchdowns.

Things don’t get any easier for the Cobblers next weekend as they face No. 1-ranked Sioux Falls Roosevelt on Friday. Central dropped to 3-4 with the loss.